Merry Christmas-Part 1

Last week, we took B and B to see Santa. We had a little bit of a wait in line, which I thought was a good thing so they could see the other boys and girls sit on Santa's lap. Well, I think the pictures speak for themselves on how their meeting with Santa went. Here is attempt #1 and attempt #2...

Farnan Christmas

Yesterday, we went to Maryville to celebrate Christmas with the Farnans. We had a great Christmas, eventhough none of my siblings or sister-in-law decided to come. It was nice to get to see all of our nephews and neice that we don't get to see nearly often enough. I actually felt short next to all my nephews! B and B had a great time seeing everyone and enjoyed opening their presents! We are looking forward this week to celebrating Christmas with the Maddens and to starting our own family Christmas traditions.

Family Picture

This is our family picture for 2010. B and B achieved the look they were going for; somber. However, we are ALL sitting in the picture and looking at the camera, so we atleast achieved that! B and B have been something else lately! They are constantly in everything, especially the fridge. Brody has become really attached to Brynn lately. If he doesn't know where she is or what she is doing, he will go around the house looking for her, yelling, "Brynne, Brynne!" He has become the "punishment police" and often scolds her for doing something she isn't supposed to be doing. He will say, "no, no!" and will try to send her to the corner. Surprisingly, Brynn usually will go, reluctantly, while whimpering or crying. He also has been quite the little tattler on her too. He loves to horse collar her or wrestle with her and pin her down. Bryan and I are suprised that she takes all this from him, especially since she has a couple pounds on him! Unfortunately, she is not as coordinated as him and hasn't figured out how to out maneuver him yet. Brynn continues to love playing with my clothes/accessories and her dolls. She is becoming quite good at walking in my high heel boots! She still jabbers a lot and we would love to be able understand more of her stories. She loves to listen to country music and has some pretty interesting dance moves! We are not quite sure where she picked up some of her moves:) Yesterday was Bryan's 33rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Daddy! We love you!

Tis The Season

This weekend, we finally decided to go and get our Christmas tree. B and B were very excited about our tree! We attempted to decorate it with their help and that was a disaster! Brody kept taking all the balls and putting them in piles in different corners of the kitchen. Brynn had stuff everywhere and broke an ornament, so we decorated it after they went to bed. They are quite obsessed with the tree today. We have found Brynn just hanging out by the tree staring at it. Brody has came walking out of the kitchen numerous times today with ornaments that he picked off the tree. We are hoping that the "newness" of the tree wears off real soon! We took B and B to see Santa today at Bass Pro Shop and the line was a mile long. We decided not to wait in line and let B and B walk around and look at all the animals. Hopefully, next time they will actually get to see Santa!

Thanksgiving Break

We have had a nice, but busy Thanksgiving break. Bryan had 3 days off from work and I am having a mini vacation with 6 days off from work. It has been sooo NICE being home with B and B. I am going down to 4 days a week at work soon, so I am looking forward to being home with them a day during the week. We spent Thanksgiving at the Farnan's this year with Grandma Farnan, Fred, John, Mike, Bryce, and Taryn. We have been enjoying Grandma Farnan's leftovers:) On Saturday, we went to the MU vs. KU football game. Bryan and I had a great time just getting away for a while. A big thank you to Grandma Farnan, Fred, and John for watching B and B. That night we took B and B to Christmas in the Park at Longview. It was a big hit with them! Brody was so quiet while watching all the lights and the only thing he kept saying was, "pretty." We may have to go again! We are hoping to get our tree soon so we can start decorating for Christmas. I'm sure B and B will be a lot of help decorating:)

2 Year Doctor's Appointment

Last Tuesday, B and B had their 2 year doctor's appointment. Brody weighed 29.6 lbs and was 36.4 inches tall (90%, 75%). Brynn weighed 31.4 lbs and was 36.1 inches tall (>95%, 93%). I was very surprised at how tall they were! However, I know those lengths aren't completely accurate because Brynn is a little taller than Brody. Brynn was also diagnosed with a bilateral ear infection. She had been pretty fussy lately, but it didn't even cross my mind that she might have an ear infection:( Dr Gilmer put both of them on antibiotics and Brody on steroids. She also told me that she was impressed that I had never had to hospitalize Brody since his asthma has been so bad. B and B also got shots and both of them cried:( Yesterday, we went for family pictures and B and B were awful! Our appointment was at 2, which is typically in the middle of nap time, but I had put them down early that day, so I am not for sure what happened. We finally just gave up on getting pictures. Our photographer thought she might have 2-3 pictures that might be okay. B and B wouldn't hold still or smile for anything. Guess who were all in a good mood and playful when we got home?

It's All About Fashion

B and B have had a lot of fun lately playing in our closet, especially Brynn. You never quite know what she is going to come out wearing! She loves to wear my shoes, scarves, and now my jewelry. I have to laugh because she rarely puts on "one" of anything. B and B have been mimicking us a lot lately and most of the time it is funny to see the things they imitate and catch on to, but sometimes it's scary and I think to myself, "Is that really what we look like/act like to them?" B and B have their 2 year doctor's appointment this week. As usual, we are looking forward to seeing how they compare to other kids their age.

Halloween '10

Brody and Brynn had a lot of fun dressing up this year for Halloween! Brody was a vampire and Brynn was a spider. We took them trick-or-treating in our old neighborhood in Lee's Summit. Brody was a natural trick-or-treater! It took him a few houses to get warmed up and then he would attempt to say, "trick-or-treat", grab a handful of candy, say, "thanks, ok, BYE!" and was ready to go to the next house. I think he would have trick-or-treated all night if we would have let him:) Brynn got tired of trick-or-treating after only a few houses and wanted me to carry her around. Brynn and Truman liked seeing all the trick-or-treaters come to our house instead:) It was quite the task keeping them out of all the candy that night!

Brody and Brynn's 2nd Birthday

On Saturday, we celebrated B and B's 2nd birthday at our house with our families. Thank you to everyone for the great gifts. B and B are in toy heaven! We have been asking them how old they are and Brody says, "two!", and puts both his index fingers together to make "two". It makes me laugh everytime he does that! When we ask Brynn how old she is, she says, "no!", so there you have that:)

Last Week Being 1 Year Old

B and B have really been keeping us busy! Brynn has not been feeling well this past week, but even being a little "under the weather" doesn't seem to slow her down much. A lot of people have asked me what they are going to be for Halloween. Brody is going to be a vampire and Brynn is going to be a spider. We have been working with them to say "trick-or-treat", which they translate as, "triter TREEEEAT!" It is quite cute! We have a big weekend coming up with their 2 year birthday party and Halloween. We had a lot of fun cheering for the Tigers Saturday night. Congrats to MU for their HUGE victory over OU! What a great game!

Cuddling With Mommy